European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A NEW INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVE OF THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF QUERCETIN

Leena Sahu, Harish Sharma and Gyanesh Kumar Sahu*

ABSTRACT

Quercetin is a natural flavonoid found in vegetables and fruits. There is growing evidence suggesting that quercetin has therapeutic potential for the prevention and treatment of different diseases, including cardiovascular disease, allergy, eye disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease. Quercetin is a bioavailability enhancer. Bioenhancer is an agent capable of enhancing bioavailability and bioefficacy of a particular drug with which it is combined, without any typical pharmacological activity of its own at the dose used Quercetin is a dietary antioxidant that prevents oxidation of low density lipoprotein in vitro. Phenolic hydroxyl groups at the B-ring and the 3-position are responsible for its free radical-scavenging activity. Quercetin also exerts a direct, pro-apoptotic effect in tumor cells, and can indeed block the growth of several human cancer cell lines at different phases of the cell cycle.

Keywords: Quercetin, cancer, bioavailability.